Stand-in Bert still playing 30 years on

But fast-forward almost 30 years later and it is still Bert providing the music at St Columba's Church in Finchfield in Wolverhampton for Sunday services, weddings and funerals.

Recently the great-grandfather celebrated his 99th birthday and he reveals the only day he takes off from playing the organ is on Christmas day.

It was in 1986 when the former organist left the Castlecroft Road church and Bert says he decided to help out.

"I had no intention of being the organist, but I said I would cover until they found someone else," he says.

"I told them I wouldn't see them without an organist and they haven't found my replacement yet – I'm still the stand-in organist."

Bert says the main thing he enjoys about playing the church organ is pleasing the congregation.

"After the sermon there is a time which is called 'music for meditation' and I listen to the sermon and pick something appropriate to play," he says.

"Often we have a visiting vicar and so I don't know what the sermon is going to be about but there are a lot of hymns I know off by heart.

"The audience are always surprised I can find a tune to go with each sermon."

Bert, who was brought up in a mining village in Leicestershire, says his family were always very musical.

"I came from a very musical family and my two brothers Bill and Ray were much better organists than I ever will be," he says.

"We had a piano at home and the three of us would go for lessons. I don't know how my parents afforded it, but they obviously thought it was important for us to learn a musical instrument."

Bert says his first knowledge of organ playing came when he was nine years old and would help out at the lessons taken by his older brother Ray.

"In those days the organs were hand pumped, there were no electric motors so I had to go and pump the organ for Ray while he played," says Bert.

"I was able to listen to the teacher talking to him and I took it all in as well – it was like a buy-on-get-one-free lesson." Bert started playing the piano when he was 11 and he was inspired by his mother and father, who could both play.

"My father Arthur could play the piano and read music and my mother was able to play from ear as she didn't read music," he says."Every week we used to have sing-alongs around the piano.

"All my children are musical and enjoy playing the piano – one of my sons, Chris, is a record producer and composer and has done a lot of arrangements for the BBC."

Bert, whose wife Eunice passed away 17 years ago, has three children – Constance, 71, Marcus, 68, and Chris, 64, as well as six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

He says as well as music, he also enjoyed maths and science as a child and received a scholarship to attend a grammar school in Ashby de la Zouch and then studied at Nottingham University and London University to get a BSC in science and maths.

"My two brothers and I were in the reserves during the Second World War and I was in the Home

"My first job in 1936 was an apprenticeship with the English Electric Company in Stafford and that was when I became interested in foundry work and I worked with molten metal from then on.

"I met my wife Eunice while I was working in Stafford as she was working as a secretary to one of the managers and she was a trained singer." After a short time in Liverpool he was general manager for John Ireland where he stayed 30 years. One member of Bert's beloved church is Eileen Gardner who says Bert is an asset .

"His playing is excellent and he comes every week, which at 99-years-old is incredible," she says.

"Every week the congregation wait to see what Bert is going to play for his 'music for meditation' section of the service.When they cotton on to the song he is playing you can see the smiles of recognition.

Bert says he will keep on playing for as long as possible and he is determined not to leave his church without music.

"I sometimes say to close friends 'why am I still here when I see younger people losing their lives?' and they tell me that it's because I've still go a job to do," he says.

"I'm suppose I'm still the temporary organist and they haven't found anyone to replace me yet."